Late Autumn is a really busy time for us on the allotment. Time to pull up the annual companion plants, tidy up the perennials in the flower beds, clear out the veg beds, plant the over-winter crops, gather seeds and keep harvesting all those luscious greens.

It’s also time to begin putting the allotment to bed for the winter. This involves a big delivery of well-rotted manure from our local farmer which we then spread on the empty veg beds. There are some exceptions – some of the beds have over-wintering crops in them and next years root beds don’t particularly like manure, in fact carrots, beets and parsnips hate it! Potatoes love it and brassica root crops such as turnips, radishes and swedes like a little bit. It’s a case of putting your poo in the right place!

So at this time of year we’re still harvesting lots of kale and spinach, broccoli and cabbage, parsnips, carrots and beets, plus the last of the raspberries and cut flowers. We’ve planted our over-winter onions and garlic, plus some winter manure crops like phacelia in the empty beds, especially the ones that aren’t being manured. The chickens are still laying, the compost is doing it’s thing and everyone is getting ready to hunker down for a wonderful winter and a bit of a rest!